more general questions about oil tanks and cesspools in Nassau County (real estate, houses)

[ooff]

Hi,

First of all, big thanks to you for your valuable advices on my previous post on a major leaking oil tank. Take my bow. We've decided to pass that house and keep looking for others.

Since we'll still be looking in Nassau, we're afraid this similar matter will surface up again. So, it'll be beneficial to get some ideas on the following general questions. Your inputs are again highly appreciated.

* Is it normal to have oil tank leaking in Nassau? Lots of houses we are looking are pretty old, i.e. ~1930 or ~1940. It is normal for these old houses to have a leaking oil tank?

* When abandoning an underground oil tank, is soil test a requirement?

* What's the procedure to abandon an on-the-ground tank? Some houses we saw have oil tank on basement floor. I guess the owner still needs to sign non-leaking affidavit? If this on-the-ground tank leaks, does soil test and replacement needed? (to test if the oil leaked to the basement floor got seeped into the soil beneath? Is it the same nightmare as a leaking buried one?

* If a seller has abandonment paper for oil tanks, either above or below ground tanks, do we still need to do soil test?

* We were told even if we have abandonment paper (either from previous owner or we abandon the tank ourselves after buying the house), when we sell the house, future buys would still request a soil test. Is this common?

* I guess we should just ignore houses where current owners have abandoned a buried tank but has no abandonment paper? Also ignore houses where a buried tank still in use?

* What about cesspool leaking? Can this be detected by home inspection? If it leaks, is it a big issue or no need to worry?

As you can see from our previous post, we are really dummies for houses. Thanks again for your inputs.

[twingles]

You do not need, nor should you do or request, a soil test if there is an underground tank. Current law allows proper and legal abandonment without that. Why open a can of worms?

[nuts2uiam]

When we purchased our home we had the homeowner abandon the tank as a requirement for closing. They had it filled and abandoned only their name was on it and no soil test was done.

[longislander2]

My experience has been that most sellers and real estate agents don't like to mention buried oil tanks, so be sure to ask about it unless you are absolutely certain that no problem exists. There are still a lot of old buried tanks on Long Island and many people don't think about them until there's a problem. The last time I researched this topic was a number of years ago and the cost for tank abandonment was about $2000-$2500, although that may have gone up since. This should be a point of negotiation during the contract discussions. I believe most sellers with old buried tanks would want to resolve the problem, so you should still consider houses with buried tanks as long as the issue is dealt with before closing. That way, if there should be any soil contamination, it's the seller's problem and not yours.

There may be cases where owners have sunk new tanks, perhaps because there isn't enough room in the basement (with most building codes, I believe, requiring a minimum five feet distance between tank(s) and boiler) or there is no basement. Personally, I would never buy a home with a buried tank, but maybe that's just me.